 Descartes held that non-human animals could be reductively explained as automata — De homines 1622. In philosophy, reductionism is a theory that asserts that the nature of complex things is reduced to the nature of sums of simpler or more fundamental things. This can be said of objects, phenomena, explanations, theories, and meanings. Image File history File links Duck_of_Vaucanson. ...
Image File history File links Duck_of_Vaucanson. ...
René Descartes René Descartes (IPA: , March 31, 1596 – February 11, 1650), also known as Cartesius, worked as a philosopher and mathematician. ...
For other uses, see Philosophy (disambiguation). ...
Reduction is the process by which one object, property, concept, theory, etc. ...
In philosophy, an object is a thing, an entity, or a being. ...
A phenomenon (plural: phenomena) is an observable event, especially something special (literally something that can be seen from the Greek word phainomenon = observable). ...
An explanation is a statement which points to causes, context and consequences of some object (or process, state of affairs etc. ...
The word theory has a number of distinct meanings in different fields of knowledge, depending on their methodologies and the context of discussion. ...
The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ...
Reductionism is often understood to imply the unity of science. For example, fundamental chemistry is based on physics, fundamental biology is based on chemistry, psychology is based on biology, sociology is based on psychology, and political science and anthropology are both based on sociology. The first two of these reductions are commonly accepted but the last three or four — psychology to biology and so on — are controversial. For example, aspects of evolutionary psychology and sociobiology are rejected by those who claim that complex systems are inherently irreducible or holistic. Some strong reductionists believe that the behavioral sciences should become "genuine" scientific disciplines by being based on genetic biology, and on the systematic study of culture (cf. Dawkins's concept of memes). Chemistry (from Greek χημεία khemeia[1] meaning alchemy) is the science of matter at the atomic to molecular scale, dealing primarily with collections of atoms, such as gases, molecules, crystals, and metals. ...
Physics (from the Greek, (phúsis), nature and (phusiké), knowledge of nature) is the science concerned with the discovery and understanding of the fundamental laws which govern matter, energy, space, and time. ...
Biology studies the variety of life (clockwise from top-left) E. coli, tree fern, gazelle, Goliath beetle Biology (from Greek Βìο meaning life and Λoγος meaning the study of) is the study of life. ...
Chemistry (from Greek χημεία khemeia[1] meaning alchemy) is the science of matter at the atomic to molecular scale, dealing primarily with collections of atoms, such as gases, molecules, crystals, and metals. ...
Psychology is an academic and applied discipline involving the scientific study of mental processes and behavior. ...
Biology studies the variety of life (clockwise from top-left) E. coli, tree fern, gazelle, Goliath beetle Biology (from Greek Βìο meaning life and Λoγος meaning the study of) is the study of life. ...
This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...
Psychology is an academic and applied discipline involving the scientific study of mental processes and behavior. ...
Political science is the field of the social sciences concerning the theory and practice of politics and the description and analysis of political systems and political behavior. ...
Initiation rite of the Yao people of Malawi Anthropology (from the Greek word , man or person) consists of the study of humanity (see genus Homo). ...
This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...
Evolutionary psychology (abbreviated ev-psych or EP) is a theoretical approach to psychology that attempts to explain certain mental and psychological traits—such as memory, perception, or language—as evolved adaptations, i. ...
Sociobiology is a synthesis of scientific disciplines that explains behaviour in all species by considering the evolutionary advantages of social behaviours. ...
Holism (from holon, a Greek word meaning entity) is the idea that the properties of a system cannot be determined or explained by the sum of its components alone. ...
Meme, (rhymes with cream and comes from Greek root with the meaning of memory and its derivative mimeme), is the term given to a unit of information that replicates from brains and inanimate stores of information, such as books and computers, to other brains or stores of information. ...
In his book The Blind Watchmaker, Richard Dawkins introduced the term "hierarchical reductionism" (p. 13) to describe the view that complex systems can be described with a hierarchy of organizations, each of which can only be described in terms of objects one level down in the hierarchy. He provides the example of a computer, which under hierarchical reductionism can be explained well in terms of the operation of hard drives, processors, and memory, but not on the level of AND or NOR gates, or on the even lower level of electrons in a semiconductor medium. Cover illustration by the zoologist Desmond Morris The Blind Watchmaker is a 1986 book by Richard Dawkins in which he presents an explanation of, and argument for, the theory of evolution by means of natural selection. ...
Clinton Richard Dawkins (born March 26, 1941) is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and popular science writer who holds the Charles Simonyi Chair for the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University. ...
Varieties of reductionism
There are several generally accepted types or forms of reduction in both science and philosophy:
Ontological reductionism -
Is the idea that everything that exists is made from a small number of basic substances that behave in regular ways (compare to monism). There are two forms of ontological reductionism: token ontological reductionism, and type ontological reductionism. Token ontological reductionism is the idea that every item that exists is a sum item. For perceivable items, it says that every perceivable item is a sum of items at a smaller level of complexity. Type ontological reductionism is the idea that every type of item is a sum (of typically less complex) type(s) of item(s). For perceivable types of item, it says that every perceivable type of item is a sum of types of items at a lower level of complexity. Token ontological reduction of biological things to chemical things is generally accepted. Type ontological reduction of biological things to chemical things is often rejected. Ontological reductionism is the idea that everything that exists is made from a small number of basic substances that behave in regular ways. ...
To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ...
Methodological reductionism -
Is the idea that developing an understanding of a complex system's constituent parts (and their interactions) is the best way to develop an understanding of the system as a whole.[1] Ockhams Razor (also Occams Razor or any of several other spellings), is a principle attributed to the 14th century English logician and Franciscan friar, William of Ockham that forms the basis of methodological reductionism, also called the principle of parsimony. ...
Methodological individualism -
Protends sociological inquiry based on individual decisions. Methodological individualism is a philosophical orientation toward explaining broad society-wide developments as the accumulation of decisions by individuals. ...
This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...
Theoretical reductionism Has two definitions. In the first definition it is the idea that the terms of a theory of science A referring to objects at a higher level of complexity than the objects of science B can be replaced by the terms of science B. In the second definition of theoretical reductionism the older theories or explanations are not generally replaced outright by new ones, but new theories are refinements or reductions of the old theory into more efficacious forms with greater detail and explanatory power. The older theories are supposedly absorbed into the newer ones and they can be deductively derived from the latter.
Scientific reductionism -
Has been used to describe all of the above ideas as they relate to science, but is most often used to describe the idea that all phenomena can be reduced by scientific explanations. It is useful to note in addition that there are no explicit theories that reject token ontological reduction of biological items to chemical items, or that reject token ontological reduction of chemical items to physics items. Also by the middle of the 20th century the empirical results made extremely implausible the view that there are fundamental forces activated only by highly complex configurations of subatomic particles. The term scientific reductionism has been used to describe various reductionist ideas about science. ...
Set-Theoretic Reductionism Is the idea that all of mathematics can be reduced to set theory. Throughout the history of mathematics, the idea that all of mathematics can be reduced to a single branch has been very powerful. However, most of the attempts to reduce mathematics to a single branch have been proven either incomplete or inconsistent. Most of these proofs were developed by Gottlob Frege. He then proposed his own form of reductionism, logicism, which in turn was famously disproven by Russell's Paradox. Many believe that Godel's Incompleteness Theorem proves that reductionism in mathematics is impossible (since all systems cannot be both complete and consistent at the same time), but there is still a great deal of debate on the matter. Friedrich Ludwig Gottlob Frege (8 November 1848, Wismar – 26 July 1925, Bad Kleinen, IPA: ) was a German mathematician who became a logician and philosopher. ...
Logicism is one of the schools of thought in the philosophy of mathematics, putting forth the theory that mathematics is an extension of logic and therefore some or all mathematics is reducible to logic. ...
Part of the foundation of mathematics, Russells paradox (also known as Russells antinomy), discovered by Bertrand Russell in 1901, showed that the naive set theory of Frege leads to a contradiction. ...
In mathematical logic, Gödels incompleteness theorems are two celebrated theorems proved by Kurt Gödel in 1931. ...
Linguistic reductionism Is the idea that everything can be described in a language with a limited number of core concepts, and combinations of those concepts. (See Basic English and the constructed language Toki Pona). Look up Appendix:Basic English word list in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
Toki Pona is a constructed language designed by Canadian translator and linguist Sonja Elen Kisa. ...
Greedy reductionism -
Is a term coined by Daniel Dennett to condemn those forms of reductionism that try to explain too much with too little. Greedy reductionism is a term coined by Daniel Dennett, in the book Darwins Dangerous Idea, to distinguish between acceptable and erroneous forms of reductionism. ...
Daniel Clement Dennett (b. ...
Eliminativism -
Is sometimes regarded as a form of reductionism. Eliminativism is the idea that some objects referred to in a given theory do not exist. Accordingly, the terms of that theory are abandoned or eliminated. Eliminativism is often regarded as a form of reductionism, since the eliminated theory is at some point replaced by a theory referring to the objects that were not eliminated. For example, the theory that some diseases are caused by occupation by a demon has been eliminated. Accordingly it has been reduced by elimination to other theories about the causes of diseases. In the philosophy of mind, eliminative materialism is the school of thought that argues for an absolute version of materialism and physicalism with respect to mental entities and mental vocabulary. ...
In the philosophy of mind, eliminative materialism is the school of thought that argues for an absolute version of materialism and physicalism with respect to mental entities and mental vocabulary. ...
In the philosophy of mind, eliminative materialism is the school of thought that argues for an absolute version of materialism and physicalism with respect to mental entities and mental vocabulary. ...
Other typologies are also possible. For example, Richard Jones in a systematic study of reductionism in philosophy, the natural sciences, the social sciences and religion differentiates five types: substantive, structural (causal), theoretical, conceptual (descriptive), and methodological. He critiicizes reductionism and advocates the importance of emergence. John Dupre also advocates antireductionism.
The denial of reductionist ideas is holism or emergentism: the idea that things can have properties as a whole that are not explainable from the sum of their parts. The principle of holism was concisely summarized by Aristotle in the Metaphysics: "The whole is more than the sum of its parts". Phenomena such as emergence and work within the field of complex systems theory are also considered to bring forth possible objections to some forms of reductionism. It's worth noticing that they don't object to token ontological reduction of biology to chemistry, nor to token ontological reduction of chemistry to physics. They would only be possible objections to other forms of reduction. Holism (from holos, a Greek word meaning all, entire, total) is the idea that all the properties of a given system (biological, chemical, social, economic, mental, linguistic, etc. ...
A termite cathedral mound produced by a termite colony: a classic example of emergence in nature. ...
A termite cathedral mound produced by a termite colony: a classic example of emergence in nature. ...
Complex systems have a number of properties, some of which are listed below. ...
An objection is: In law, a motion during a trial to disallow a witnesss testimony or other evidence The yell Objection! is Phoenix Wrights catchphrase, which has since become the title of the Phoenix Wright themed internet meme: Objection!. Objection (Tango) - A 2002 song by Shakira Category: ...
Outside the field of strictly philosophical discourse and outside the fields of biology, chemistry and physics, the best known denial of reductionisms of whatever kind is religious belief, which, in most of its forms, assigns supernatural original causes to phenomena. In this approach, even if a given system operates by strictly reductionistic causes-and-effects, its "true" genesis and placement within larger (and typically unknown) systems is bound up with an intelligence or "consciousness" beyond normal human perception. It is worth asking how religious systems regard token biological reduction of biological items to chemical items and chemical items to physics items. Various Religious symbols, including (first row) Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Bahai, (second row) Islamic, tribal, Taoist, Shinto (third row) Buddhist, Sikh, Hindu, Jain, (fourth row) Ayyavazhi, Triple Goddess, Maltese cross, pre-Christian Slavonic Religion is the adherence to codified beliefs and rituals that generally involve a faith in a spiritual...
History The idea of reductionism was introduced by Descartes in Part V of his Discourses (1637). Descartes argued the world was like a machine, its pieces like clockwork mechanisms, and that the machine could be understood by taking its pieces apart, studying them, and then putting them back together to see the larger picture. Descartes was a full mechanist, but only because he did not accept the conservation of direction of motions of small things in a machine, including an organic machine. Newton's theory required such conservation for inorganic things at least. When such conservation was accepted for organisms as well as inorganic objects by the middle of the 20th century, no organic mechanism could easily, if at all, be a Cartesian mechanism. René Descartes René Descartes (IPA: , March 31, 1596 – February 11, 1650), also known as Cartesius, worked as a philosopher and mathematician. ...
In philosophy, mechanism is a theory that all natural phenomena can be explained by physical causes. ...
See also Holism (from holos, a Greek word meaning all, entire, total) is the idea that all the properties of a given system (biological, chemical, social, economic, mental, linguistic, etc. ...
In philosophy, emergentism is the belief in emergence, particularly as it involves consciousness and the philosophy of mind, and as it contrasts with reductionism. ...
The term scientific reductionism has been used to describe various reductionist ideas about science. ...
Theology (Greek θεος, theos, God, + λογια, logia, words, sayings, or discourse) is reasoned discourse concerning religion, spirituality and gods. ...
Aristotle (Greek: Aristotélēs) (384 BC – March 7, 322 BC) was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. ...
A Phrenological mapping of the brain. ...
References - Dawkins, R. (1976) The Selfish Gene. Oxford University Press; 2nd edition, December 1989 ISBN 0-19-217773-7.
- Descartes (1637) Discourses Part V
- Dupre, J. (1993) The Disorder of Things. Harvard University Press.
- Jones, R. (2000) Reductionism: Analysis and the Fullness of Reality. Bucknell University Press.
- Nagel, E. (1961) The Structure of Science. New York.
- Ruse, M. (1988) Philosophy of Biology. Albany, NY.
- Dennett, Daniel. (1995) Darwin's Dangerous Idea. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-82471-X.
- Alexander Rosenberg (2006) Darwinian Reductionism or How to Stop Worrying and Love Molecular Biology. University of Chicago Press.
Alexander Rosenberg is an American philosopher, and the R. Taylor Cole Professor of Philosophy at Duke University. ...
External links
|
Feeds |
Contact